Download

Guide

Using Nook

Everything from the first start to sharing, messaging and publishing — in plain words. Nook is beta software: use small amounts.

Want to know how it works underneath? Technical details →

Get started

Install

Download Nook for your system from the latest release: a signed installer for macOS (Apple silicon), an installer for Windows, and packages for Linux. Nook runs your own Swarm node in the background and opens its dashboard in your web browser.

First start

  1. Starting your node. Nook downloads and starts its node. This takes a few seconds.
  2. Sign in with Swarm ID — your identity for contacts, messages and sharing. New to Swarm ID? Create an account in the window that opens and save your recovery phrase. You can skip this and sign in later from Account → Identity; drives, uploads and your wallet work without it.
  3. Add funds to your node wallet. Your node has its own wallet on Gnosis Chain. Nook moves on as soon as a little xDAI arrives (from 0.001 xDAI). Use Add funds to pay from almost any chain and token, send xDAI and xBZZ directly on Gnosis Chain only, or redeem a gift code. Press I’ve sent funds — check now if you don’t want to wait for the next check.
  4. Connecting to the network. Your node syncs; this usually takes 1–5 minutes.

What the two tokens are for

  • xDAI pays network fees — tiny amounts, fractions of a cent per transaction.
  • xBZZ pays for storage (drives) and bandwidth. You need xBZZ to create a drive, and about 4 xBZZ for the small reserved space that makes you findable and carries your messages.

Drives

A drive is storage you pay for upfront: a size and a length of time. Your files live on the Swarm network, split into pieces kept by many nodes.

Create a drive

Drive → New drive. Pick a size (110 MB, 680 MB, 2.6 GB, 7.7 GB or 20 GB) and how long it lasts (1 month to 1 year). You see the cost in xBZZ before you pay. Options:

  • Encrypt this drive — files are encrypted and you can share the drive with chosen people.
  • Deletable files (Beta) — deleting a file gives its space back. These drives can’t be shared yet.
  • Auto-extend — see below.

Upload

Open a drive, press Upload and drop a file or folder (or click to browse). An upload has two steps: copying to your node, then storing on the Swarm network (encrypted uploads do both at once). You can leave the page — progress stays in the sidebar. If your node stops, the upload says Paused — waiting for your node and continues by itself when it’s back.

How full, and how long

Each drive shows how much it stores and its size (“568.8 MB of 2.6 GB”). That includes folder indexes and older versions of a website, so it can be more than your files add up to. Nook warns you when a drive is almost full. The pill shows the time left; it turns red in the last week. Click it to extend: add time, add space, or both.

After you add space, the drive shows “Extending to …” until the network confirms the new size, usually within a minute or two.

Auto-extend

With auto-extend on, Nook extends the drive when less than 10 days remain, by the length you chose, and tells you when it does. It pays from your wallet, and Nook has to be running for it to happen. Every automatic payment appears in Account → Activity.

Removing files

On a regular drive, × removes a file from your list only — the file stays on Swarm until the drive expires. On a deletable drive, Delete frees the space for new files; copies already stored on the network stay readable until they expire.

Sharing

Encrypted drives can be shared with chosen people. Regular files are shared by their Swarm address.

Share an encrypted drive

Open the drive → Share, and type a contact’s name, a Nook address or a contact link. They get the drive in Messages right away and add it with one click. The first time you share with someone you’re not yet connected to, Nook also sends a small heads-up on Gnosis Chain (a tiny xDAI fee).

Remove access

Remove stops future access; files the person already downloaded stay with them. Removing someone changes the drive’s key, so files already on the drive stay locked for anyone you add back later — until you press Re-publish drive.

If someone reinstalled Nook

Sharing is tied to the other person’s node, and a reinstall gives them a new one. Their row then says they reinstalled — press Share again and they can open the drive again.

Drives shared with you

They appear under Drive → Shared with me. You can also add one from a share link with Add shared drive. Shared drives stay in sync every few minutes.

Contacts & messages

Messaging works between Nook users and needs Swarm ID. Your Nook address (Account → Identity) is how people find you — share it, or send your contact link.

  • Add a contact: Contacts → Add contact, by Nook address or contact link. New contacts get an invitation they accept.
  • What’s private: the contents of messages can be read only by the two of you. That you talk, and when, is visible on the network.
  • Reserved space: messages and your identity use a small space Nook sets up once you have about 4 xBZZ, and extends it automatically (Settings → Identity & messages). When it gets full, Nook sets up a new one by itself.
  • Your sign-in lasts for the browser session. If you see “To use Messages, sign in with Swarm ID”, sign in again at the top right.

Publish a website

  1. Publish website → drop your site’s folder. Nook finds index.html.
  2. Pick the storage size and how long it stays up; you see the cost in xBZZ.
  3. Keep Permanent address on for one link that always points to your latest version — updating the site keeps the same link.
  4. Press Publish. Progress shows in the sidebar, so you can leave the page; the bell tells you when it’s live.

Your own domain: Link ENS domain connects an ENS name you own (like mysite.eth) — it needs the Ethereum wallet that owns the name and a small fee on Ethereum. Your site then opens at mysite.eth.limo; it can take a few minutes to show up.

A site stays online as long as its storage is paid for — extend it, or turn on auto-extend.

Wallet

  • Balances: xBZZ (storage and bandwidth) and xDAI (network fees), under Account → Wallet.
  • Add funds from almost any chain and token, or redeem a gift code.
  • Withdraw xBZZ or xDAI to any address on Gnosis Chain.
  • Activity lists every movement on your node wallet, including what Nook spends by itself: new drives, extensions and bandwidth deposits (a small amount moved to pay other nodes for moving your data).

Send funds on Gnosis Chain only — funds sent on other networks won’t appear in Nook.

Settings

  • Identity & messages — the reserved space and its automatic extension.
  • Blockchain connection — Automatic (recommended) uses a public connection with a backup; Your own RPC is used as-is. Restart your node after changing it.
  • Troubleshooting → View logs, and Send feedback in the sidebar.
  • Network tab — peers, node details and developer mode.

When something’s wrong

“Another Swarm node is running on this computer”
Nook runs its own node and can’t share its port with another one (a bee command, a Docker container or another Swarm app). Stop the other node and press Try again. Nook never uses that other node or its funds.
Dot says off / “Bee node is not running”
Start it from the Nook icon in the menu bar (tray) → Start Bee. View logs shows what happened.
An upload says Paused
Your node is stopped or restarting. It continues by itself once the node is back.
“Fund your node wallet to start”
Add a little xDAI (Account → Wallet) — see Get started.
Messages don’t work
Sign in with Swarm ID (top right), and make sure you have about 4 xBZZ for the reserved space.
Your Mac asks for a password: “nook wants to use your confidential information stored in ‘Nook Safe Storage’”
This question comes from macOS, not from Nook. Nook keeps your sign-in in the Mac’s keychain so you stay signed in between launches, and macOS can ask once after you update from a version older than 0.7.0. Enter your Mac login password and choose Always Allow. If you choose Deny, nothing is lost: Nook asks you to sign in with Swarm ID again.
Updating Nook
When a new version is out, the sidebar and Settings show it. On Mac and Windows it downloads in the background: click Update and Nook restarts into it. On Linux, Download opens the release page.
Still stuck?
Use Send feedback in the app, or report an issue.

Your data

Your files are on Swarm, but the keys and lists that lead to them are on your computer — keep them safe:

  • Your node’s key and wallet are in Nook’s data folder (macOS ~/Library/Application Support/Nook, Windows %LOCALAPPDATA%\Nook\Data, Linux ~/.local/share/Nook). Deleting it loses the wallet and any funds in it.
  • Your file lists, folders, Shared with me and contacts are kept in the same folder, so every browser on this computer — including a private window — shows them. The browser you use keeps a copy too: clearing its site data loses nothing.
  • Updating from 0.7.2 or older? Open Nook once in the browser you usually use. That browser hands its file lists and contacts to Nook; until then another browser shows a notice and empty lists, and you shouldn’t upload to encrypted drives there.
  • Logs are in ~/Library/Logs/Nook (macOS), %LOCALAPPDATA%\Nook\Log (Windows), ~/.local/state/Nook (Linux).